Cards zapped by strong Thunderbolts

MIO - Playing a talented and experienced Mio team, a young, small Johannesburg-Lewiston squad fell at the hands of the mighty Thunderbolts, 46-0, in the football opener for both teams Friday night.

The young J-L defense had a tough time corraling talented Mio quarterback Chad Wright, and the Cardinals' offense couldn't get their potent wing-T offense untracked against the Thunderbolts, who loaded eight or nine defenders in the box on every play.

"We're pretty green. We made a lot of mistakes," veteran J-L head coach Fred Davis commented after the game. "We made a lot of hits, and we didn't lie down. We just have to fix some things and try to bounce back. Football is a game of breaks, and we didn't make many for ourselves. There were several times when we could have recovered fumbles and we didn't get it done."

The Cardinals opened the game by holding onto the ball for more than seven minutes, but left with nothing to show for it.

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The hard-running trio of seniors Casey Glazier and Matt Martindale and junior Sean Hart created some first downs in the early action before the O-line got worn down by Mio's size and depth, but J-L was ultimately forced to punt.

It took Mio just seven plays to score on its first drive. The resilient, elusive Wright was able to punch the ball in from 8 yards out to cap the 61-yard drive. Junior running back Matt Sodt, a transfer from J-L, ran in the two-point conversion.

After another Cardinal punt, Mio put together another 61-yard scoring drive. This one took 13 plays and was capped with another Wright TD run, this time from 3 yards. Sodt ran for two points again, and Mio had an early 16-point lead.

Just nine seconds later, Mio was on the scoreboard again. On the first play after recovering an onside kick, Wright found receiver Kenny Provost streaking down the right sideline for a 42-yard TD play. Sodt added the two-point conversion and suddenly it was 24-0.

After Mio recovered a short pooch kick, the Thunderbolts started on the attack once again. Only this time, an errant Wright pass wound up in the hands of talented J-L sophomore safety Phil Knapp. Knapp returned the ball to his own 48-yard line.

After Knapp rolled out and completed a pass to Phil Packard out of the backfield, a 12-yard run around end by Brad Ewing and another nice run around end by Glazier on top of a Mio late hit, the Cards were down to the Thunderbolt 18-yard line. It would be their deepest penetration of the game. After a fumble and a penalty forced the Cardinals back to the 28-yard line, Knapp went back to pass. Under pressure, he attempted a long pass down the right sideline, only to have it picked off by Wright inside the 5. Wright the ball all the way back to his own 46-yard line.

Mio converted the turnover into a TD, scoring with 11 seconds remaining before halftime on a 4-yard pass from Wright to John Larrison.

Larrison and Derek Keegan had touchdown runs for Mio in the second half.

The Cardinals were down on the scoreboard, but played hard to the end. Senior nose guard Robert McClean had one sack in the second half, while David Tack and Jeramy Campbell combined for another. Junior linebacker Mike Carroll had the hit of the game, nailing Wright near the left sidelines late in the first half. Carroll saved a touchdown on the play as Wright had clear sailing after scrambling from the pocket.

Glazier, Hart, Knapp and Dale Tusek also had big games defensively and Luke Sides played well in a reserve role.